Sakata Gintoki
| species= Human | gender= Male | hair= Silver, natural perm | eyes= Reddish-brown | btype= | status= Live | height= 177 | weight= 65 | others= Right-handed}} Sakata Gintoki (坂田銀時) is the founder of the Yorozuya, a highly skilled samurai and the main character of Gintama. He enjoys eating sweet things and picking his nose in public. Other than the name 'Gintoki', he is also referred to as Gin-chan or Gin-san, Yorozuya Danna aka Yorozuya Boss. When he cross-dresses, he is known as パー子 paako, complete with twin pony tails and big breasts. Sakamoto Tatsuma persists on calling him 金時 Kintoki, which happens to be his name in Kintama 金魂, a parody of Gintama set in the alternative world of Male Host Clubs. Otose usually uses 天然パーマ tennen paama aka Natural Perm when scolding Gintoki, likewise Catherine alternates between Sakata-san and アホの坂田 aho no sakata aka Idiot Sakata. 坂田氏 Sakata-shi is used only by Hijikata when under possession by Tosshi. Gin is used by Oiwa and Rei. Tsukuyo 月詠 simply calls him 'Gintoki' though she referred to his hair as a 'burnt wild field' in Episode 177. When he was turned into a cat in Episode 190, Houichi shortened his name to "Gin".}} Background Gin was first found as a child in a battlefield surrounded by corpses while he was holding a katana. He was found by his teacher Yoshida Shouyou. Under the care of Shouyo he learned the way of the samurai along with Takasugi Shinsuke, and Katsura Kotarou. In the later parts of the Joui war, he, Shinsuke, and Katsura joined the fight. This was where Gin, due to his sword skills, gained the nickname Shiroyasha. After the war, Gin disappeared for a while. He later met Otose in the graveyard where her husband was buried. He then promised to always protect her, as a thank you for the food she gave him. He later created Yorozuya, with four others, until they went their separate ways (he tried to drown them, when they started to date each other). Appearance Gintoki has silver hair and a natural perm. He wears a black shirt and pants with red linings, and a white yukata (summer kimono) with light blue patterns worn sloppily, draped over his left shoulder. His weapon of choice is usually a 木刀 bokutou aka wooden katana engraved with 洞爺湖　''touyako'' aka Lake Toya on the handle, carried by his waist. Throughout the series he is seen wearing various disguises and has been shown in different styles for gags. Personality Gintoki's past continues to influences who he he and how he acts. Due his lack of a family he believes in the importance of having a loving family as he once admitted that having a loving family is all someone really needs in life. He is still very respectful of his teacher being enraged that someone who would harm their student would call himself a teacher, out of memory of his teacher's kind actions. Gintoki has always cared for his friends past and present, with his inability to protect many of his friends in the Joui war still haunting him. As a result he protects everyone of Yorozuya, and calls them his family. He has even stated the only reason he fought in the Joui war was to protect his friends, not for his country or even the samurai way. He has many childish personality treats despite his age, with himself calling him really a child in a man's body. One such trait is his love of sweets to the point of nearly developing diabetes, mostly seen eating or drinking a sweet, with strawberry milk being his favorite. He loves to read Shonen Jump, and buys one every week, Gintoki will go to great lengths to acquire the latest Jump issues which includes reckless behavior, rivalling that of Hattori Zenzou who is similarly spirited.10 And has a hatred of the dentist, something he is ashamed of due to his age. Gintoki is very lazy, attempting to take short cuts and is shown in his spare time to read Jump and sit around his apartment. Due to his poverty, he attempts to save money at every turn, but he has some spending money and is as such he is usually 2 months behind on his rent. He loves to play Pachinko and other gambling games. He acts like a coward most of the time, will attempt to leave behind his friends if his life is in danger, but this only occurs in the more comically stories. He is extremely scared of ghosts, but is very sensitive to their presence and many times will try to deny their existence. Even though he's lazy most of the time, Gintoki is quite a dedicated worker and always put his mind on his jobs. He acts mean many times insulting anyone around him, and when annoyed by a person is willing to physcially assult them. He is also quite a pervert. Despite this Gintoki is a kind person willing to risk his life for anyone, and he is shown to be extremely caring to his friends. Though several female characters have shown an interest in Gintoki, such as Sarutobi Ayame and Tsukuyo he usually does not show any response back and merely puts up with them as annoyances and even assults Ayame who tends to stalk him. But he has a huge crush of the weather girl, Ketsuno Ana and wishes to marry her. Despite his appearance and initial behavior, Gintoki has a great amount of pride for the old bushido code. He takes it upon himself to rescue or avenge not only his comrades and friends but also people he barely knows. Relationships Kagura: Gintoki seems to really care about Kagura more than anyone when she's in danger or not in a good condition. However, their relation seems to be more like that of a "father-daughter kind" than a romantic kind. Shinpachi: Gintoki met Shinpachi at a restaurant where he was ordering his favorite food, a Strawberry Sundae when a fight would break out between Gintoki and some Amantos because they were harassing Shinpachi and accidentally spilled his Sundae. Since then, Shinpachi has been with Gintoki. They could be considered brothers, though neither of them show it. Katsura: Katsura has been Gintoki's childhood friend ever since they were very little. They usually fight along side with each other, so they can be considered very close friends. Gintoki always calls Katsura by the nickname "Zura", even though Katsura prefers "Katsura". To expand: Likes; Sake that is not too strong, playing pachinko and gambling related activities, dirty talk or say things that always contain some scatological innuendo, His strengths/weaknesses; * Stubbornly refuses to admit the existence of spirits/ghosts (calls them 'Stands') yet has remarkable ability to sense them and can still maintain his self-consciousness to manipulate them even as they possess him in the Onsen Chapter Episode 134. * During Joui wars, was the legendary 白夜叉 Shiroyasha aka White Demon * Current combat & sword skills are high enough that the blood-thirsty Yato Kamui has staked his claim on him as his future prey Episode 146 * Umibouzu stated himself that he "carries himself with a certain grace. Like a master of the sword." in Episode 200 * Yagyuu Binbokusai 柳生 敏木斎 conceded that Gintoki's sword style may well be his own, and not affiliated to any school. * Does not like killing, willing to adapt his bushido to other people's or the current times in order to avoid needless loss of lives, as explained to Katsura in Episode 5. This is the most probable reason for his carrying a wooden sword and not a real version. * the target of 'M' aka masochistic stalker Sarutobi Ayame 猿飛 あやめ * Gintoki seems to dislike his curly perm hair. ~ to elaborate further, in Episode 5 he says his lack of girlfriends is due to his 'natural perm' hair. * in his childhood, he was under the tutelage of Yoshida Shouyou 吉田 松陽 together with Katsura Kotarou 桂 小太郎 and Takasugi Shinsuke 高杉 晋助. * has a crush on the weather-girl Ketsuno Ana 結野アナ, escaped from his cleaning duties at Otose Snack to go and buy a Ketsuno Ana figurine, started tearing out pages of calendar in despair when he saw on TV that she had suddenly gotten married Trivia *According to Sorachi, Gintoki's name was based from Sakata Kintoki, also known as Kintaro, from a famous folk tale set in the Heian Perod. *In episode 45 Gintoki accidentally revealed his genitals on the national news after forgetting to zip up his pants. * A running gag is that whenever Gintoki begs to someone to do something, he would always comedically offer 300 yen. *His Bokutou has Broken in 4 ocassions: When he cheats kondo to use it, when he previously had broke it; When Kagura was angry after tried to deffend it from an amanto, to discover that he bought's it by phone; In his second battle against Nizo(when he obtain the benizakura); in his first battle against Doromizu Jirochou 泥水 次郎長 *He might not look like it, but Gintoki was noted by Sorachi as a skilled chef (behind the scenes). *In fellow Shonen Jump anime Bleach, Gintoki was reading the manga in an omake wishing that he could use Getsuga Tensho, Bleach's main character's signature attack. See Also * Characters References Category:Gambler Category:Sadistic Type